Applied Materials Solar Car Races

At Applied Materials, corporate responsibility is about improving the way people live and helping to create a bright future in the communities in which they operate.  We’re grateful that once again, Applied Materials focused their efforts on local hunger relief. Through a combination of tried-and-true Applied Materials favorite events, and a twist on some new ones, they raised more than $123,000 and 432 pounds of food. Thank you, Applied Materials, for your long-standing commitment to fighting hunger in our community! Enjoy these photos of their fundraising events from our friends, and hunger heroes, at Applied Materials.

Our “Turn Hungry Holidays into Happy Holidays” campaign sponsored by FOX 7 and SolarWinds, was a great success. Your generous gifts of more than $500,000 provide nourishment and hope for our neighbors in need. This campaign was very special for us; we raised more funds than last year, and our sponsors put their own spin on the campaign to engage their employees and help lead the technology community in ending hunger.

SolarWinds issued a challenge to technology companies in Central Texas to beat the $13,000 in cash and food donations raised by their employees during their two-week drive.

For Microsoft, them’s fightin’ words and they stepped up to the challenge. It was great to have two competitors in the business world use that energy and enthusiasm to nourish the hungry in our community.

“The Microsoft team in Austin was proud to participate in this year’s Food Drive Challenge. Thank you to SolarWinds for inviting us. We had a lot of fun raising the donations and hope to do it again next year,” said Gary Geddes from Microsoft.

Team Microsoft

Congratulations to Microsoft for beating SolarWinds in the Geeks who Give Challenge.  Enjoy those bragging rights.

Josh Stephens, also known as “Head Geek” at SolarWinds, shares a wrap up of the campaign on his blog.

A little while back I wrote a blog post entitled “Hunger Sucks” that we used to help drive awareness to the Capital Area Food Bank’s (CAFB) “Turn Hungry Holidays into Happy Holidays” food and fundraising campaign. It was a call to arms to fellow geeks out there to step up and help fight hunger here in Austin and within the greater metropolitan area. You stepped up big time. Here are some of the results.

You see, for the past three years SolarWinds has been supporting the CAFB through holiday food and fundraising drives. This year, we wanted to take it a step farther by underwriting the area-wide campaign and challenging other Austin technology companies to help as well. With the help of other technologists in the area and fellow tech company Microsoft, we raised a total of over $17,000 AND 2,300 pounds of food AND there were over 225 participants!!! As my buddy Justin Endres here at SolarWinds would say – OUTSTANDING!!!

I’ve gotta tell you, I was impressed by the way that everyone stepped up. CAFB has been great to work with; we’re looking forward to our next event with them sometime soon. They’ve asked us to volunteer at the Austin Reggae Festival in April. I just might be too redneck for reggae, but heck, to help fight hunger, maybe even I could channel my inner Rastafarian. Sing it with me… “Don’t worry about a thing, every little thing is gonna be alright.”

Thanks again for your contributions and for those of you that didn’t get a chance to help – there’s still time. You can go online to CAFB now and donate directly to help end hunger.

Flame on…

Josh

Thank you, Josh, for being our Hunger Hero. We had a lot of fun working with you and your team this past year, and plan on having even more fun at the Austin Reggae Festival. And, just for you, we WILL flame on.

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It’s that time of the year again – time to join the biggest youth-led food and fund drive in Central Texas.  Each year we like to mix it up and encourage more people to participate.  Last year, Tyson Foods challenged you to comment on their blog , which triggered a 100-pound food donation.

This year, along with Austin’s competing television networks, radio stations, print publications, grocery stores and other community  partners, we’re teaming up with the Boy Scouts of Central Texas to reach our goal of one million meals.  We can achieve our goal with fun activities for you online and in your Central Texas community. Here’s how you can get involved:

1. Join a team. Search online to find your team or start a new team and get registered.

2. Register your team for MLK Day. When you register online, you’ll receive your monthly e-newsletter and a free Resource Kit to help promote your event.

3. Enter the CAFB Souper Bowl of Caring Blog Contest.

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Show off your creative talent by sending us a blog post with a photo gallery or video about your work with Souper Bowl of Caring.  Winning entries will be featured on our blog at blog.austinfoodbank.org and on our Facebook page.

You’ll also get a limited edition Hunger is UNacceptable t-shirt and water bottle, as well as a special guided tour of the Food Bank for you and your friends.  This is a great opportunity for youth to build their resume, for college applications, and to demonstrate leadership in your community. Click here to enter.

Contest Rules

• It must be about Souper Bowl of Caring.
• It must mention our goal of raising 1 million meals.
• It must include the words “Hunger is unacceptable.”
• Videos must be no longer than 3 minutes.

4. Donate online. Take a virtual shopping trip by putting food items into your online shopping cart. Then click “Donate” to donate the cost of those items to the Food Bank. It’s a fun way to help end hunger!

5. Support the “Scouting for Food” Food Drive

The Capitol Area Council Boy Scouts will be conducting a Food and Fund Drive in many areas throughout Central Texas. Scouts will leave door hangers on your door the week of January 22 – 29 and return to pick up non-perishable food items the following Saturday.  Your donation will support a Capital Area Food Bank Partner Agency in your community.

On February 5, you’re invited to join us for the 101st anniversary celebration of the Scouting movement at the 62nd annual Boy Scout Parade and Report to the State of Texas in conjunction with the Souper Bowl of Caring. Watch the Boy Scouts State Parade on Congress Avenue where the scouts will collect healthy, non-perishable food donations for our Central Texas neighbors in need.

6. Donate at your local Randalls, H-E-B and Central Market’s

While you’re shopping for snacks for game day, consider sharing a meal with those in need. Purchase pre-packaged bags of most-needed items or look for tear-off coupons in the amounts of $1, $3 and $5 at checkout stands in area Randalls, H-E-B and Central Market grocery stores.  Your purchase of a pre-packaged bag at either retailer provides two meals for a family of four.

7. Participate in Souper Bowl of Caring and save on Harlem Globetrotters tickets

The Harlem Globetrotters “4 Times the Fun” World Tour is coming to Austin on Friday, January 28.  When you support Souper Bowl of Caring you’ll save $7 on tickets. Learn more.

Thank you, Partners:

HEB, Central Market, Randalls, FOX 7, News 8, KEYE TV, KVUE-TV, TeleFutura, Telemundo, Univision, The CW, My Austin TV, KVET, KASE 101, AM 1300 The Zone, Buena 104.3, La Jefa 107.7, Relevant Radio 970 AM, The Statesman, The Jewish Outlook, Ahora sí, Capitol Area Council Boy Scouts of America, and Harlem Globetrotters.

These days, it’s easy to stay in touch with friends, share your knowledge and even manage your weight loss online.  Did you know that you can do these things while providing much-needed food for hungry Central Texans?  Simply select the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, Inc. as your charity of choice.  Your gift will go a long way – every $1 provides $5 worth of nutritious food.

Here’s a round-up of websites to help you use social media and online services for ending hunger at home.

ChipIn

Easily raise funds for the Food Bank with this simple application widget and see instant progress on your efforts.  The widget works with any Web page and many popular social media sites. The PayPal account email address for the Capital Area Food Bank is contribute@austinfoodbank.org.

Crowdrise

Make raising money for the Food Bank not just easy, but also fun.  While you raise funds for the Food Bank, you’ll also have opportunities to compete for prizes like Apple iPads, get a free t-shirt, earn points for every dollar you raise, and points for votes from Crowdrise members.  Crowdrise’s community-based participation-driven giving philosophy is summed up in their motto:  “If you don’t give back, no one will like you.”

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GoodSearch

GoodSearch is a free browser toolbar that you install. When you use it as your search engine, or if you purchase online from a large directory of vendors, a portion of the proceeds go to the Food Bank.  You can also enter the “Who do you GoodSearch For” video contest.  Make a heartfelt, creative video about why you chose CAFB as your charity. If your video is featured,  GoodSearch will donate $100 to the Food Bank.

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HelpAttack!

Do you love to Tweet? Designate the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas as your charity on HelpAttack!

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Pound for Pound Challenge

Take the Pound for Pound Challenge.  For every pound you pledge to lose through May 31, 2011, the Pound For Pound Challenge will donate 11¢ to Feeding America® — enough to secure one pound of groceries on behalf of local food banks. Now, for the first time, you can create your own Pound For Pound Challenge® team! Sign up with friends, family, co-workers, neighbors and anyone who you’d like to invite. Lose weight, feed your community and have fun with the support of others who share the same goals.

SixDegrees.org

Based on the popular game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, sixdegrees.org helps you create fundraising badges to support the Capital Area Food Bank. These badges can be placed on your social networking profiles, blogs and websites.

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Do you have an upcoming celebration, graduation or birthday? Ask for a Good Card^®.  The Good Card^® is a gift card with stored value that you can redeem as a donation to the Food Bank. It’s a great way to let your family and friends know you are passionate about ending hunger.

WhatGives

Did you know that the Capital Area Food Bank accepts PayPal donations? WhatGives offers a great widget you can use on Facebook or on your personal web page to collect donations for the Food Bank.

For more information on how to raise food and funds for the Food Bank click here.

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Head to the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar on Thursday, December 16 for the best movie combo you can imagine: a screening of O Brother, Where Art Thou; a delectable gourmet dinner; and the great feeling that a portion of ticket proceeds are going to the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas.

Loosely based on Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey,” O Brother, Where Art Thou follows three escaped prisoners during their extremely strange but comical journey set in 1930’s Mississippi. While you watch the movie, you’ll be served a delicious (and slightly themed) four-course meal prepared by Alamo Executive Chef John Bullington.

The movie starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are $61. Worried about the price? This is a great chance to help feed hungry families by simply enjoying an incredible film and dinner experience. Plus, it’s only a little more than you’d pay for a normal movie (after ticket, popcorn, drink and candy) anyway.

For more details, click here.

by Dale Morris, Member at the Office of Sustainability at Applied Materials

Celebrating our third year, the Applied Materials‘ solar car race is showing no signs of slowing down.  Affectionately called the Solar Car Smackdown, the race is organized by the employee resource group, the Austin GreenTeam, to raise funds for the Capital Area Food Bank. The event draws upon both the technically-trained and the curious-tinkerers, who do their best to design the right mix of wheels, gears, and chassis in combination with the standard-issue motor and solar panel. And it’s all to produce first-place speed.  While the event is geared toward raising money, for many teams the bragging rights are serious business.  Teams can be found huddled around whiteboards, scheming up their secret ideas that will hopefully place them ahead of the other teams.  With the solar car race, weather is a particular challenge, since it can significantly alter the car’s performance. How do you design for less-than-perfect sun or wind conditions?  If it is especially windy, additional weight can provide benefits.  During the Smackdown, teams must take those variables into consideration and be prepared to make race-day or even side-line adjustments to be most competitive.

To add to the fun of the race (and raise more money), ‘smack talk’ is encouraged.  The day before race-day, the cars are displayed in the cafeteria and employees are encouraged to place money toward their favorite design.  During the pre-race exhibition, team captains are able to size up the competition, and the gawking turns into an engineering boastfest about modifications made to improve their cars.  Certainly some new ideas are exchanged and last-minute adjustments are made.  More importantly, it raises awareness about the race and it raises cash, as employees vote for their favorite car with dollar bills.  The team that raises the most money collects not only their own money, but also half of the money from each of the other cars.   As the voting winds down, fundrasing tactics increase. Phone calls to other employees are made to encourage support.  Our final voter this year was our site engineering director who dropped in money for the car that he felt was technically superior. He also donated a few bucks to last year’s winner for a “job well done.”

The 120-ft race course is a straight, five-lane course divided by weighted fishing line.  The cars are attached to the fishing line to avoid runaway chaos.  This year teams can “buy” unlimited advantage — a $1 donation can get you a foot closer to the finish line.  Yes, you can pay to cheat, but it’s all for a good cause to provide meals for Central Texas families. Some teams have been collecting money for weeks in preparation for a big advantage in the race. So, technically the best design doesn’t always win. But, we do host a special, final race — the grudge match. It is based purely on technical merit: no advantages – just the fastest car wins.  And they win big. Bragging rights for an entire year. And the Food Bank wins big as well. All money is donated to the Food Bank and matched dollar-per-dollar by the Applied Materials Foundation as part of the company’s annual food drive.

As the sun sets on another successful solar car race, teams are already scheming, designing and planning on how they can build the fastest car for next year.

by Josh Stephens (Head Geek at SolarWinds)

Me and hunger just don’t get along very well. It could be hypoglycemia or maybe I’m just a big ole’ cranky guy, but if I don’t get something to eat for lunch every day, you probably don’t want to be hanging around me. Many days, it’s not too big a deal as I’m spending the afternoons in the lab or in meetings and it’s OK to be grumpy, but on a day like today where I’m filming I really need to be able to put on a happy face and my hungry face always seems to trump my happy one.

So, as I was working through lunch today, I decided to see what was in the refrigerator. I admit it – I stole someone else’s food. Turns out it was my brother’s (yeah, he works at SolarWinds, too), but either way I took it. Being hungry sucks. And while I can make a joke about stealing my brother’s food, the hunger many folks face day-to-day isn’t funny. SolarWinds’ Geeks that Give community outreach program decided to step up and help out the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas’ “Turn Hungry Holidays into Happy Holidays” food and donation drive this season in a BIG way.

With today’s economy there are more people struggling to put food on the table than ever before. So far here at SolarWinds we’ve raised over $13,000. The stats on what that can do are amazing. For every $5 donated, CAFB can provide $25 of food. SolarWinds’ donation will provide 28 children with nutritious after school meals for a year, provide 122 families with food for a meal per day for a year, and provide food enough to feed 62 seniors a meal a day for a year. Those are some pretty amazing things when you think about it.

So, Zach, sorry about stealing your lunch. I guess I owe you one. But now that you know what it feels like to be hungry maybe you should visit this site and donate some more? For everyone else out there, I hope that you too will help either the Capital Area Food Bank here in Austin or a local food bank in your area. Be part of the solution.

To help SolarWinds and the Capital Area Food Bank “Turn Hungry Holidays into Happy Holidays,” learn more at http://www.solarwinds.com/donate/ and donate online at austinfoodbank.org through December 26.

Flame on…
- Josh

Follow me on Twitter

Sick of Thanksgiving leftovers? Like Bar-B-Q? Want to be a part of ending hunger? You can help CAFB by eating at any participating Rudy’s “Country Store” and Bar-B-Q. For every pound of meat sold from November 30 through December 2, Rudy’s Bar-B-Q will donate $1 to local food banks.

Click here to find the closest Rudy’s near you. Bring friends, relatives or just a big appetite to help hungry families eat this holiday season.

Want to do a little more? Add Rudy’s Bar-B-Q to your social networks anytime between November 30 and December 2 and they’ll donate 50 cents for every new follower on Twitter and “Like” on Facebook.

The Capital Area Food Bank in collaboration with the Texas Association of Builders, Tilson and Temple Inland is committed to serving one lucky North Central Texas family and the community where they live. A family worthy of a hero’s welcome will have their lives changed forever when the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition bus rolls into town. With your help, we’re turning hungry holidays into happy holidays and inspiring our community to help our hometown heroes.

Join us at the Heart of Texas Build Pep Rally, Tuesday, November 30 at the Corbin J. Robertson Center – Southwestern University, Georgetown from 6 – 8 p.m. This event is FREE to the public with a suggested donation of two healthy, non-perishable food items.

Click here to RSVP.

Stay tuned for more exciting news about our work with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

STG Design, Spaw Maxwell – “I think I CAN!”
Team: Brittney Couch – Captain, Carrie Clemons, Ashley Elgie, Ashley Hargrove, Denisse Valle
Cans Used: 2,513

Last week we posted a CANstruction “Viewer’s Choice” contest for the annual CANstruction event. CANstruction brings together teams of design and construction professionals and students to build fantastic sculptures from thousands of cans of food.

This year, CANstruction collected 25,906 pounds of food—more than 6,000 pounds from last year’s event! Thank you again to all of the teams, sponsors, and volunteers for your creativity, great design, and commitment to ending hunger. A special thank you to our sponsors: Austin Monthly Home, Chick-Fil-A, MOVECORP, Barton Creek Square Mall, Society for Marketing Professional Services, Ridgways and Panera Bread. Your efforts helped provide more than 19,000 meals to hungry Central Texans.

Click here for pictures from the event.